Surprise Me

For Ages: 8 Months - 2 years

Having an unexpected surprise delights any kid.

SURPRISE ME

Materials:
A few items small enough to hide in your hands such as cork, lipstick, coin, candy, etc.

Directions:
Show your child that you have a cork, for example, in your hand. Put both hands behind your back and switch the objects back and forth between your hands. Then, she has to guess which hand has the cork. Once she guesses, bring both fisted hands up and let her pry open your fingers one at a time to see if she guessed the correct hand. Do this game several times.

Now comes the SURPRISE part. After doing this several times, surreptitiously slip a coin, or another small object, into your fist instead of the cork by directing her attention elsewhere ("See that bird?"). The next uncurling of your fingers will surprise and delight her. She’ll likely want you to do it again many times. When she least expects it, change items again!

Whose Ring of String

For Ages: 3-10 years

In this game, children are encouraged to really look closely at one spot and see the tiny wonders of nature that are in our own back yard.

WHOSE RING OF STRING

Materials:
string
magnifying glass or jar with water in it (optional)

Directions:
Make a small circle on the ground with the string. Look carefully at the enclosed area with your child and notice what is growing there. Pull out a weed or blade of grass and see what the roots looks like. Is there a seed pod in the area? What’s inside?

Poke a hole and see if there are any insects around. What are they? What are they doing? Use a magnifying glass or a jar with water in it and look at different things up close.

Gather small things to examine and collect such as pine cones, acorns, petals, seeds, bark, leaves and pretty pebbles.

Paper Plethora

For Ages: All Ages

Paper is an inexpensive medium for encouraging creativity because it can be torn, ripped, wadded, crumpled, folded, taped, pasted, rolled, wrapped and scribbled on.

PAPER PLETHORA

Materials:
Paper: Squirrel away any scraps of different kinds of paper, such as gift wrapping paper, wax paper, discarded envelopes, photocopy paper, colored paper, aluminum foil, magazines, greeting cards, magazines, paper bags, toothpaste boxes and gift boxes.
Large box: to store the papers
Glue and or tape
Crayons or markers

Directions:
Have a Paper Day
Bring out the box of paper goodies and let your child have at them.

Tear out magazine pictures and paste them on a paper to make a collage.

Make new greeting cards out of wrapping paper designs or out of old greeting cards. Make sculptures out of aluminum foil. Tear small pieces of different colors and make a mosaic picture. Crumpled small pieces of tissue paper and make a 3-D flower on paper.

A Wish Collage

For Ages: Teens

To make a wish come true, you first have to define your wish.

A WISH COLLAGE

Materials:
Old magazines
Cardboard or heavy paper

Directions:
Think about something you’d like to have happened and find pictures that show elements of that wish. A wish to travel, for example, would have pictures of airplanes, happy faces, interesting sites and so on.

Glue them on a piece of paper or cardboard from a box and keep it in prominent position to be seen daily. Expect it to happen!

My Story is the Best Story

For Ages 3-8

Teach your little one the elements of story writing early by learning how to tell their stories. The best story of all!

MY STORY IS THE BEST STORY

Materials:
None

Directions:
At the end of the day, encourage your child to tell you the story of his day. Help your child tell the story by asking leading questions such as "What was the first thing you did when you woke up today?" "What happen next?" "Who did you see today?" "What was the best thing that happen today?" and so on.

If you want, turn on the tape recorder or video camera and let your child elaborate about his day for a family keepsake.

First Words

For Toddlers
Let the first words your children learn to read be the names of people they love.

FIRST WORDS

Materials:
Index cards
Pen

Directions:
her what they say and then lay them on the table and have her point out the one that is her name and then, your name.

Later, add new names to her pile and keep playing the recognition game. Delight in her success. Casually correct her errors.

You’ll be surprised to see how quickly she learns to read the words. Impress your friends and family!

Homemade Rattles

FOR INFANTS:
Even infants get bored with the same old rattles. Here's a quickie way to make interesting new rattles that are just the right size for her hands.

HOMEMADE RATTLES

MATERIALS:
Clear film canisters or cleaned plastic pill bottle or small travel-sized shampoo bottles.
Household items such as pennies, beans, salt, rice, buttons, paper clips, beads, sequins, sand, seeds, etc.
Cloth Tape (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Put enough of any of the above materials in container so that when shaken it makes a noise. Close tightly. Tape if needed. Make some rattles all one material and others a combination.

You could also half filled some with colored or plain water and add objects that float such as beads, sequins and bits of cork.

Talk about what she is seeing as in "Those are pennies. They make a loud sound." "This is salt. It makes a soft sound."

It’s nice to learn about what’s in her world.

Self-Portraits

FOR AGES: TEENS
Many teenagers go through a phase where they become fascinated with their reflection in the mirror, especially during the period when their faces make that change from a child’s to a young adult’s.

In this activity, you and your changing child can take advantage of this fascination by drawing your mirror reflection

SELF PORTRAITS

MATERIALS:
Mirror
Pencil
Paper

DIRECTIONS:
Both of you sit facing a mirror and draw yourselves. Try and draw faithfully exactly what you see.
You can also draw each other’s reflections.

It’s fun to look only at the other person but not at the paper until you are done. This often gives a kind of Picasso look to the work.

Spotlight in the Dark

FOR AGES 1-7
flashlights in the dark can make a fascinating game

A SPOTLIGHT IN THE DARK

MATERIALS:
Two flashlights

DIRECTIONS:
In a dark room or on a dark night, turn both flashlights on and encourage her to "catch" your spotlight. Move your spotlight around the room and she has to move hers so it "catches" yours by covering your spotlight with hers.

Your turn to chase next.

Who's hands on top?

FOR ALL AGES:
Here is a silly fun game needing nothing more than two pair of hands and a goofy spirit.

WHOSE HAND IS ON TOP?

MATERIALS:
None

DIRECTIONS:
Put your hand on the table and ask your little one to put hers on top of yours. Then put your other hand on top of her hand and ask her to put her other hand on the top of the hand pile.

Then you pull your first hand out from under the pile of hands and put it back on top. Encourage her to do the same with her hand that is now on the bottom.

Keep repeating this pattern with the hand on the bottom of the pile moving to the top. Start very slowly at first until she gets the idea and then begin to speed up the action.

Got three pair of hands or more wanting to play? Silliness ahead!

Sock on a Bottle

FOR BABIES:
When babies are old enough to hold their own bottle, you can enrich that experience by creating a textural and visual delight with nothing more than a sock.

SOCK ON A BOTTLE

MATERIALS:
A variety of clean socks in different colors, patterns, and textures.

DIRECTIONS:
Place your child’s bottle into a pretty sock and hold it in front of your baby so he can see the new look. Change to a different sock on another day to add the element of surprise and enhance his ability to notice details.

Follow the Floating Feather

FOR AGES: TODDLERS

As mesmerizing as watching dancing dust motes, following the trajectory of a feather is both compelling and calming.

FOLLOW THE FLOATING FEATHER

MATERIALS:
Feathers

DIRECTIONS:
Hold a small feather up high and then let it go and encourage your child to watch it as it slowly falls. To help him keep his eye on the feather's movement, suggest that he catch it as it falls.

Drop the feather from different heights or outside to let him notice how air currents affect movement.

Also, blow the feather to your child and ask him to blow it back to you. If there are a few of you playing, see how many times you can blow it to each other before it touches the floor.